Demand from uninsured Georgia residents medical for services at Saturday's large, one-day free health clinic near Atlanta is so great that organizers will have to put a freeze on registrations unless more doctors volunteer their services.
"With an overwhelming number of uninsured people calling today to register for free medical care at Saturday's clinic, we will have to stop taking registrations at noon today if we don't get more physicians to join us in meeting this great need," Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC), said. "Hundreds of doctors and other medical and non-medical people have volunteered but we need many more doctors to meet the overwhelming demand."
Among Georgia's non-elderly residents, 18 percent are uninsured. The state has an unemployment rate in excess of 10 percent. Even with health reform having passed, there is still a huge need for people without insurance to have access to medical care now.
"We have liability coverage available for the physicians who volunteer to work at the C.A.R.E. Clinic," Lamoureux said. "So we encourage any doctor who might be able to help to contact us as soon as possible."
The C.A.R.E. (Communities Are Responding Everyday) Clinic, sponsored by the NAFC, will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday at the Georgia International Convention Center near Atlanta. Volunteers, both medical and non-medical, can find information about the clinic online at: http://freeclinics.us or www.regonline.com/Atlanta_CARE_Clinic.
If patient registration for the C.A.R.E. Clinic is frozen today, uninsured people who cannot be scheduled for appointments on Saturday can contact their local free clinics. Information can be found at http://freeclinic.us or http://www.gfcn.org. Patients who do participate in Saturday's clinic also will be connected to free clinics and other safety-net providers near where they live for regular treatment on an ongoing basis.